Job Chapter 24
1 “Why doesn’t the Almighty maintain
a regular court schedule for judging?
Why do those who know him wait for him in vain?
2 Some remove landmarks,
seize flocks and eat them,
3 drive away donkeys that belong to the fatherless,
take widows’ oxen for pledges.
4 They run the needy off the road;
the poor people have to hide from them.
5 Like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor labor at foraging for food,
looking for prey in the wild to feed their children.
6 They gather fodder in the field
and glean sinners’ vineyards.
7 They spend the night without enough clothes
to protect them against the cold.
8 They’re soaked from mountain rain
and huddle in the rocks for lack of shelter.
Job 24:1-8
9 “Others snatch the fatherless from the breast
and take pledges against the poor.
10 They make the naked go without clothes
and take away sheaves from the hungry.
11 They press out oil between the olive rows
and tread winepresses for others yet suffer thirst.
12 From the city, the people groan,
the wounded cry out for help,
but God ignores their prayers.
Job 24:9-12
13 “Others rebel against the light;
they refuse to know its ways or stay on them.
14 A murderer gets up at dawn
to kill the poor and needy;
at night he’s a thief.
15 An adulterer waits for twilight and says,
‘Nobody will see me’;
he disguises himself.
16 In the dark they break into houses
and sleep in the daytime;
they’re not accustomed to light.
17 Morning is the same to them as dense darkness;
they’re allies with the terrors of deep gloom.
Job 24:13-17
18 “But they’re swiftly carried away like foam on a creek;
their land is cursed;
they’re afraid to go in their own vineyards.
19 Sheol consumes sinners
like drought and heat consume snow.
20 Their mothers forget about them,
maggots feed on them till they’re not remembered;
they’re blown over like trees in a windstorm.
21 They prey on barren and childless women
and fail to help needy widows.
22 But God uses his power to drag away the rich;
they may get established,
but they have no guarantee of life
23 He may let them live in security,
but he keeps an eye on their progress in life.
24 They’re honored for a little while; then they’re gone;
they’re brought low and fade away like everything else,
cut off like heads of grain.
25 If that’s not so, who can prove me wrong
and make my speech pointless?”
Job 24:18-25